Popgun construction



June 10, 1958 w. s. w|-:| |.s

POPGUN CONSTRUCTION 2 Sheet-Sheet 1 Filed May 28. 1956 J1me 1953 w. s. WELLS 2,837,865

POPGUN CONSTRUCTION Filed May 28, 1956 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 W/QA M IN VEN TOR 5 M e/Zs.

United States Patent Manufacturing Company, Plymouth, Mich., a corporation of Michigan Application May 28, 1956, Serial No. 587,673 4 Claims. oi. ts-n This invention relates generally to toygun's, and more particularly to a toy popgun of the general type illustrated in United States Patent No. 2,729,208 issuedlanuary 3, 1956.

It is an object of this invention to provide a toy popgun which simulates an air rifle in appearanee and which will produce an exceptionally loud bang or noise, without firing any projectile.

It is a still further object of this invention to provide an improved valve construction and arrangement whereby the loud bang or noise is obtained.

It is a still further object of this invention to provide a popgun of the aforementioned type which is exeeptionally durable in construction and relatively. inexpensive to manufacture.

These and other obj'ec tsof this invention will become apparent from the following detailed. description taken in conjunction with the ae'cempa'n 'ing drawings, in which:

Figure l is afragmentary longitudinal view, partly in section and partly in elevation, of a popgun of this invention;

Fig. 2 is an enlarged view of the structure taken within the area indicated at 2 in Fig. 1, and illustrating the position of certain of the gun parts after the. gun has been fired;

Fig. 3 is a view similar to Fig. 2 illustrating certain of the gun parts in a cocked position ready for firing;

Fig. 4 is a view similar to Fig. 3 illustrating a further embodiment of the invention and illustrating the position of certain of the gun parts when the gun iscocked and ready for firing; I

Fig. 5 is a view similar to Fig. 4 illustrating a position of such parts after the gun has been fired;

Fig. 6 is a view similar to Fig. 4 illustrating a still further embodiment of the invention; A

Fig. 7 is a view similar to Fig. 6 illustrating a position of certain of the gun elements-after the gun has been fired;

Fig. 8 is an enlarged sectional View of the structure illustrated in Fig; 7 taken-along the the line 8 -8 thereof;

Fig. 9 is a view similar to Fig. 6 illustrating a still further embodiment of the invention; and

Fig. 10 is a view similar to Fig. 9 illustrating the position of certain of the gun parts after the gun has been fired.

Referring now to the drawings and more particularly to Figs. 1 to 3, it will be seen that the toy gun includes a barrel and frame 11 connected with a stock 13 to simulate an air rifle or B-B gun. A plunger assembly 15 is disposed within the barrel 11 and normally urged to the position illustrated in Fig. 1 by means of a spring 17. The plunger assembly includes a plunger or piston 19 in bore-fitting engagement with the barrel and a two-piece plunger rod or tube 21, two sections of which are connected together by means of a pin 23 which acts as an abutment for the front end of the spring 17. The rear end of the spring 17 engages an abutment 25 which is an extension of the rear sight of the gun and which is connected with the barrel frame. The rear end of the plunger tube 21 is split with the opposed walls interconnected by means of a rigid plate 27. A cocking lever 29 is pivotally connected intermediate its ends to the barrel frame at 31 and the forward end 33 thereof is adapted to engage the plate 27 at the back of the plunger tube so that when the rear end of the cocking lever'is swung downwardly, the forward end of the cocking lever will move rearwardly to move the plunger tube rearwardly and compress spring 17.

T he plate 27 rides over a sear 35 on a trigger 37 which is pivotally connected to the barrel frame at 39 so that the sear engages the plate and holds the plunger or piston in its cocked position until the trigger is pulled rearwardly. Pulling of the trigger causes it to pivot relative to the barrel frame so that the sear 35 swings downwardly away from the plunger tube plate and permits the plunger to bepropelled forwardly by the spring 13.

I The diameter of the barrel 11 adjacent the front end thereof is enlarged at 41 and is-of a depth greater than the depth or thickness of the piston 19 so that when the piston is moved forwardly under action of the spring 17 and approaches closure 43, air compressed between the piston 19 and said closure 43, which sealingly closes the front end of the barrel, can escape through the space between the outer periphery of the piston 19 and the inner wall of the barrel enlarged end 41, and flow rearwardly and to atmosphere through openings 44 in the barrel. It will be understood that the compressed air is not released until the piston is in close proximity to the closure member. With such an arrangement, it has been found that when the air is compressed and then suddenly released, due to the piston entering the enlarged portion of the barrel, a loud bang or noise will occur.

' The noise, of course, is due to the sudden release of the air under pressure.

The remainder of the embodiments of the invention are illustrated in Figs. 4 through 10 wherein only the portion of the gun which includes thebarrel, the barrel closure and the plunger assembly is illustrated in each figure. In certain of these embodiments it will be noted that the plunger tube extends forwardly from the piston rather than rearwardly as in the previous embodiment, and no specific means is illustrated for moving the piston toward the barrel closure wall or member. It will, however, be appreciated by those skilled in the art that the means for cocking the gun and actuating the piston may be similar to those shown in Fig. 1 or may be slightly modified without departing from the scope of the invention.

I In the embodiment illustrated in Fig. 4, piston 19a is disposed in bore-fitting engagement in the barrel 11a, while a plunger rod 21a is connected therewith and extends sealingly and slidably through an aperture 45 in a closure member 47 fixedly connected in the barrel 11a. The portion of the piston rod 21a adjacent the piston 19a is reduced in diameter at 49 so as to provide a shoulder 51 between the reduced portion and the remainder of the plunger rod. The distance between the shoulder 51 and the adjacent face of the piston 19a is greater than the depth or thickness of the closure member 47 so that when the piston 19a moves toward the closure 47 under the impetus of a spring or the like, as previously described, air will be compressed and shoulder 51 will extend through the closure and thus permit the compressed air to escape forwardly through the space between the wall of the aperture 45 and the outside diameter of the piston rod reduced portion 49 as illustrated in Fig. 5, to thus produce the loud noise or bang.

In the embodiments illustrated in a substantially similar arrangement that the plunger rod 21a is provided with an elongated aperture 53 therein adjacent the piston 19a so that when the piston is moved toward the closure member 47, the elongated aperture 53 will extend through the closure as illustrated in Fig. 7 to permit trapped air to escape forwardly of the closure to produce the loud noise or hang.

In the embodiments illustrated in Figs. 9 and 10, the barrel 11b has an enlarged portion 41b in which is disposed a washer 55 to sealingly and slidably receive the plunger rod 2112 which is connected to the piston 19b. The depth of the enlarged portion 41b is in excess of the thickness of the plunger 1% so that when the piston moves into close or substantial engagement with the washer 55, the outside diameter of the piston will be Within the confines of the enlarged portion 41b to permit the compressed air to flow to atmosphere through the space between the outer periphery of the piston and the inner wall of the enlarged barrel portion 41b to again produce the loud bang or noise in substantially the same manner as previously described.

It will thus be appreciated that in all of the embodiments of the invention a simple and novel arrangement is provided whereby air may be compressed and then suddenly released through novel escapement passageway means to the atmosphere to create a loud noise and provide a more desirable toy popgun.

What is claimed is.

1. In a toy popgun construction, a hollow cylindrical housing member, a bore-fitting piston slidably disposed in said housing member, a piston rod member connected with said piston and extending axially of said housing member, means spaced from one end of said housing member sealingly closing the same so that the portion of said housing between said piston and said closure Figs. 6 through 8, is provided except means provides a chamber in which air is compressed upon relative movement of said piston and said closure means toward each other, and actuatable means for eifecting said relative movement and causing the compression of air in the chamber, the cross-sectional area of said hollow cylindrical housing member adjacent said closure means being enlarged adjacent said closure means so as to provide a passageway between the wall of said housing member and said piston just prior to engagement of the piston and closure member and through which the compressed air may escape to the atmosphere so as to produce a popping noise.

2. In a toy popgun construction, a hollow cylindrical housing member, a bore-fitting piston slidably disposed in said housing member, means spaced from one end of said housing member sealingly closing the same so that the portion of the housing member between said piston and said closure means provides a chamber in which air is compressed upon relative movement of said piston and said closure means toward each other, actuatable 'means in said housing member,

for etfecting said relative movement and causing the compression of air, and a piston rod member connected with said piston and extending axially of said housing member, said closure means having an aperture therein through which said piston rod member extends in borefitting relationship, said rod having elongated passageway means adjacent said piston and adapted to communicate said air chamber with the atmosphere outside of said air chamber through said closure means aperture just prior to engagement of said piston with said closure means so as to produce a popping noise.

3. In a toy pupgun construction, a hollow cylindrical housing member, a bore-fitting piston slidably disposed in said housing member, means spaced from one end of said housing member sealingly closing the same so that the portion of the housing member between said piston and said closure means provides a chamber in which air is compressed upon relative movement of said piston and said closure means toward each other, actuatable means for effecting said relative movement and causing the compression of air, and a piston rod member connected with said piston and extending axially of said housing member, said closure means having an aperture therein through which said piston rod member extends in borefitting relationship, said rod having a reducing diameter portion adjacent said piston and of greater length than the depth of said closure means so that just prior to engagement of the piston and closure means said reduced portion will communicate the air chamber with the atmosphere beyond said closure means to permit sudden escapement of the compressed air from said air chamber to atmosphere so as to produce a popping noise.

4. In a toy popgun construction, a hollow cylindrical housing member, a bore-fitting piston slidably disposed means spaced from one end of said housing member sea 'ngly closing the same so that the portion of the housing member between said piston and said closure means provides a chamber in which air is compressed upon relative movement of said piston and said closure means toward each other, actuatable means for effecting said relative movement and causing the compression of air, a piston rod member connected with said piston and extending axially of said housing member, said closure means having an aperture therein through which said piston rod member extends in bore-fitting relationship, said rod having an elongated aperture therein adjacent said piston which is greater in lengththan the depth of said closure means so that just prior to engagement of said piston and closure member said opening will communicate said air chamber with the atmosphere outwardly of said air chamber to permit the sudden escapement of compressed air to atmosphere so as to produce a popping noise.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,729,208 Gaeke Jan. 3, 1956 

